Bloody Winning

Firstly, I’d like to start off by thanking the Mixology Group for organising the ‘Bloody Mary Mix-Off’, which Above Audio dominated!  Our resident Irishman, Alan Coulter being one of the two runners-up and I was personally lucky enough to take home the 1st place bacon, (by bacon; I mean £100 bar kit, trophy and bottle of the newly released Belvedere ‘Bloody Mary Maceration’!) .

The competition took place over a month using a text message voting system followed by a 5-man final. The top 3 of which, threw caution to the wind (and some light drizzle unfortunately) at the Brighton and Hove Food and Drink Festival, where myself, Alan and one other highly skilled mixologist watched excitedly as the public blind-tasted our Bloody Marys then voted for their favourite.  Both the whole day and festival were great fun and a complete success... especially, may I add, for Above Audio! A big thanks goes out to Belvedere Vodka and Eager fruit juices for their support. 

World Class Training

In other news, Diageo’s ‘World Class’ training forum went down at Aqua restaurant in the Big Smoke held by the one-and-only Peter Dorelli, the godfather of cocktail culture, and brand managers from Talisker, Tanqueray 10 and Grand Marnier.  Great fun.  Lot’s learnt.  Fantastic venue. Diageo's 'World Class' training sessions really are something special which is not least down to the amazing locations: The Dome, Brighton and Harrods, London to name a couple. But even more so, it’s down to the passion and charm of the people invited to talk about their area of interest or product, which you are welcomed to taste (usually about 45%ABV and over £40 a bottle, but of course that's irrelevant!)  They capture your attention, engage the whole group and are truly inspiring; imagine the opposite of a double-glazing tele-sales person!

Gin O’clock

And thanks to another competition, there’s also a new addition to the Above Audio Gin collection. This Netherlands Gin was acquired at the ‘Twisted Traditions Competition’ at Graphic Bar in Soho.  No victories for Above Audio (we can’t win everything!) but very inspiring.

It's always a pleasure to have your travel paid for in order to drink lots of gin in a nice bar in the coolest part of London (I mean… compete in a serious mixology competition of course)

And it's nice to meet and chat with fellow guys and girls from other cities doing the same.  It also allows us bartenders at Above Audio to play with a new product and I'm especially excited to experiment with Sloanes, which has vanilla! Should make a good 'Breakfast Martini'!

Cheers!